Glass-handling apparatus



E. G. CHASE.

GLASS HANDLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION man n:c.12, 1919.

1,414,547. Patented May 2,1922.

2 SHEETSSHEET I- K JnVenfo/Z Z IZ 6; Clause,

E. G. CHASE.

cuss HANDLING APPARATUS. APRUCATION FILED DEC. 12, I919.

Patented May 2, 1922.

2 SHEETSSH EET 2.

Jnuenifo). g Chase.

Arr eerie.

GLASS-HANDLING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. May 2; 1922.

Applicationfiled December 12, 1919. Serial No. 344,381.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, EARL G. CHASE, citizen of the United States, residing at Smeth port, in the county of McKean and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Glass-Handling Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to glass apparatus and more particularly to an improved appara-tus for handling glass cylinders prior to and during the capping and cracking operations and the general object of the invention is to provide a glass horse by the employment of which the taking down, capping, and cracking of glass cylinders may be accomplished with great facility and without the usual likelihood of breaking of the cylinder with the attendant danger'to the workmen employed in performing these operations.

At the present time, in taking down glass cylinders, it is customary to proceed ineither one of two ways. The more common way is by the employment of mechanical contrivances especially designed for performing this operation but which are more or less complicated and therefore expensive. lVhere such contrivances are not employed, the cylinders are taken down by hand but this latter method of procedure is attended by danger to the workmen through breakage ofthe cylinders and furthermore, by it the work cannot be performed as rapidly as might be desired. It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a means whereby such cylinders may be readily taken down without any particular liability of injury to the workmen and at the same time without the necessity of employing complicated mechanical devices for performing this task.

. It not infrequently happens in the drawing of glass cylinders, in the manufacture of window glass, that the cylinders will deviate somewhat from a true cylindrical form so that if, after being taken down they were disposed to rest upon a substantially rigid horse, some portions of their lengths would be spaced above the saddles of the horse thus imposing a strain upon the cylinders. With the objectin view of overcoming this disadvantage and in an attempt to provide a more or less continuous and even support for all portions of the length of a cylinder regardless of any distorted form which it might have as a result of the drawing operation, glass horses are constructed with spring supported or yieldable saddles so that when a cylinder is taken down and laid upon the horse all of the saddles will be supported by their respective springs in contact or engagement with the under side of the cylinder. While, by the employment of a'horse of this construction, the cylinder while at a state of rest will be practically relieved of' the stralns to which it would otherwise be' subjected because of deviations from a true cylindrical form and the lack of support at points in its length where such support should be provided, nevertheless a horse of this construction presents serious disadvantages when employed during the capping operation. As the saddles of such a horse are supported by springs, these springs ofcourse exert an upward thrust upon the saddles, the springs being placed under compression through the weightof the cylinder. As a consequence when the cylinder is cappedit not infrequently happens, and particularly if the cylinder is somewhat deformed, that as it is circumferentially cracked, it will fracture at the capping off point due to the difference in weight between'the two portions of the cylinder into which its length is to be divided and the consequent tendency of the spring saddles supporting the lighter portion of the cylinder to thrust this portion upwardly above the position of the other and heavier portion of the cylinder. This fracture of the cylinder is even more likely to occur where the cylinderdeviates somewhat from av true cylindrical form and where by reason of this fact some of the spring supported saddles are depressed and their springs placed under tension to a greater degree than adjacent ones. It is therefore another important object of the'present invention to provide a glass horse so constructed that all portions ofthe length of acylinder taken down and disposed upon the horse will be afforded equal support whether'the cylinder be of true cylindrical form or somewhat distorted as a result of the drawing operation. Incidentallythe invention contemplates the provision of saddles of such construction that they will more or less closely and snugly conform to the'shape of the under side of the cylinder and thus support the cylinder in a more stable manner than is the case where wooden saddles are employed.

Also in this respect the invention has as its der to be supported thereon.

.horse, which saddles will not exert any strain uponthe cylinder but'will on the other hand afford it uniform support throughout its length so that the capping off operation may be performed at any desired points in the length of the cylinder without any likelihood whatsoever of the cylinder being fractured through any uneven pressure or tension exerted upon it by the saddles.

It is a well recognized fact that where horses of the usual construction are employed the cracking operation is rendered more or less tedious and inconvenient to perform and it usually must be, postponed until the capping operation has been completed. The present invention, however, has as a further important object to provide a horse so constructed that as each separate 'portion of the length of the cylinder is capped off, it may be disposed in a positions to render it readily accessible to the cracker andso that he .may use the cracking iron with the greatest facility and without in any way interfering with the capper or the capping operation.

Ordinarily the saddles of glass horses are constructed of wood or other rigid material and while their upper sides are curved from end to end to receive the cylinder the saddles are not adapted to prevent lateral rolling motion of the cylinder disposed thereon, the arc of curvature of the upper sides of thesaddles being usually considerably greater than the arc defined by the circumferential surface of the glass cylin- It is therefore a. further object of the invention to provide a glass horse with flexible saddles which will automatically more or less conform to the shape of the under side of a cylinder disposed to rest thereon so that the cylinder will be more securely supported and will be prevented from any lateral rolling motion upon the horse.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view illustratingthe horse embodying the present inven-. tion and the manner of using the same in taking down a cylinder; 7 I

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the horse, the view, as in Fig. 1,. illustrating the use of the horse intaking down a cylinder and the cylinder being shown in full lines in partly lowered position and dotted lines in full lowered position resting upon the horse;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but illustrating one section of the horse uncoupled and adjusted to operation; M

Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line H of Fig. 5 is a plan view of the truck of one v position for the cracking of the sections of the'horse, the saddle supporting platform being shown in dotted lines; Fig. 6 is a detail vertical sectional view taken-substantially on the line 66 of Fig. l. 1 I

In the drawings, the glass furnace is indicated in general by the numeral 1 and embodies, of course, the usual drawing pot or well from which the molten glass is to be drawn in the form of a cylinder. As is .usual in glass factories, an overhead track houses the blower and from which leads the blow pipe 7 provided at its end with the bait 8, the cage 6 being suspended from the trolley 3 by means of a cable 9 which may be taken up or paid out so as to gradually elevate the cage 6 duringthe drawing operation and so as to lower the said cage as the drawn cylinder is being taken down.

This cable 9 is taken-up and'paid out through operation of the motor at inthe usual manner and as the apparatus thus far describedis that ordinarily found in glass factories, a detailed illustration and description thereof is deemedunnecessary.

The horse embodylng the present invention is not a stationary one but on the other hand is supported for back and forth travel upon track rails 10 which extend forwardly a suitable distance from. the front of the furnace 1. The horse comprises a plurality of coupled sections and inasmuch as these sections are of counterpart construction, a description of one will sufiice for all. Each section of the horse, indicated in general by the numeral 11, comprises a truck body'12 mounted upon wheels 13 which travel upon the track rails 10, the truck body being flat and substantially rectangular and having its upper surface located above the upper sides of the wheels 13 as clearly shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. A king pin 14 is mounted at the center ofthe upper side of the truck body, 12 and the said body is provided, concentric to this pin with an annular series of anti-frictionrollers or other similar bearing elements 15. Each section of the horse further comprises a platform 16' which supports the saddles and thisplatv form is preferably rectangular and of substantiall-ythe same dimensions as the truck body 12 and is provided centrally with an opening or hearing l'Zreceiving the king pin 14in the manner clearly shown in Fig.

4 df'the drawings, the platform resting at its under side'upon the anti-friction elements 15 and being in this manner supported upon the truck body for turning movement in a horizontal plane. It is, of course, preferable to provide antifriction bearing elements between the truck body and platform so that the platform may be more readilyrotated about the king pin but the particular mounting shown in the drawings is to be considered merely as illustrative of the rotatable mounting of the platform and it will be understood that this structure may be modified in many ways and that in fact any suitable means might be provided for rotatably mounting the platform upon the truck body, the inventive idea residing in the rotatable mo'unting of the platform rather than in any specific means whereby it may be so mounted.

A series of uprights 18 is mounted at one side of the platform 16 and a series of uprights 19 is mounted at the opposite side of the said platform and these uprights may be varied in number as desired. However, the uprights l8 and 19 are equal in number and respective ones are oppositely located or, stated in other words, the uprights are arranged in pairs.

As previously stated the saddles ofthe horse are flexible and each saddle, indicated in general in the drawings by the numeral 20, consists of a suitable length of cable or other flexible material which is permanently connected at one end as at 21 to the upright 18 of the respective pair of uprights and is lead at its opposite end through the upper end of the companionupright- 19. The uprights 19 arepr'eferably tubular as illustrated clearly in Fig. 6 and in order that the last mentioned ends of the. respective saddles 20 may be passed therethrough, each upright is formed near its upper end with diametrically oppositely located openings 22, a suitable .portion of the length of the fleX- ible saddle being allowed, after being passed through the openings 22. to hang beside the respective upright 19 as indicated by the'numeral 23 where it may be grasped and a pull exerted thereon for the purpose of taking up the slack of the saddle or on the other hand the saddle may be slackened by slightly paying out this portion of the said saddle. Above the openings 22, each upright 19 is interiorly threaded as indicated by the numeral 24 and fitted in. its upper end is a threaded clamping screw 25 having a concave lower end 26 to provide a circumferential binding edge 27 designed to cooperate with the lower sides of the walls of the openings 22 for the purpose of clamping the cable or other material comprising the saddle 20 and thus holding the same against being drawn through the said opening. Any suitable means, such for example as a cross bar 28, may be provided atthe' upper end of each screw 25 to permit of the screw being rotated to bind or to release the end of the respective saddle.

' The several sections of the horse, of which there maybe any desired'number, are connected together by any desired coupling means indicated by the numeral 29 so that the sections may be readily coupled to one another and readily uncoupled.

The manner of using the horse in the several operations of taking down, capping and cracking the cylinder, will now be described. The cylinder 1s first drawn in the usual manner and after havlng been drawn 1s carried away from the furnace 1 by causing the trolley 3 to travel along the track 2 in the direction of the platform 5. When the cylinder has been brought, in asuspended vertical position, to a point suitably removed from the furnace, it may be taken down in either one of two ways. One method of 'precedure'is to advance the horse along the track 10 until the foremost saddle of the "first section of the horse engagesthe cylinder near the'lowerend of the latter. Through the operation of the motor 4, the trolley 3 is then caused to move along the track 2 in the direction of the furnace until the cylinderhas assumed approximately an angle of 45 as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings whereupon the cable 9 is paid out and the cylinder is thus laid upon the saddles of the horse. By the other method of procedure the horse is advanced along the track 10 in the direction of and beyond the platform 5 after the foremost saddle of the forward section of the horse has engaged the lower portion of the cylinder, and at the said time the cable 9 is paid out so that the horse will pass to a position beneath the cylinder as the cylinder is simultaneously lowered onto the horse. It will be evident that by either method the taking down of the cylinder may be accomplished most expeditiously and with out any particular likelihood of breakage of the cylinder with consequent injury to the workmen and at'the same time I am not required tomodify in any way the overhead structure. of the apparatus but accomplish the desired results solely through the provision of my horse which is supported for travel beneath the overhead structure.

When the cylinder has been taken down by either of the methods above recited one of the attendants will pass along that side of the horse at which the uprights 19 are located and if he finds that any of the saddles do not snugly and properly engage the under side of the cylinder he will loosen the respective clamping screws 25 and take up the slack in the respective saddles. When this adjustment of the saddles has been completed, all of the saddles will engage the under side of the cylinder and the cylinder will be afforded uniform support substantially at all points in its length.

The capper now performs his task by capping the cylinder at the intervals between the sections of the horse and as he caps off each portion of the length of the cylinder he will uncouple'the section which supports this length and shove the section away from him along the track 10. As the cylinder is afforded uniform support throughout its length therewill be no likelihood of fracture of the cylinder as frequently happens where horses having spring supported saddles are employed.

As each section of the cylinder is capped off, the cracker stands ready to perform his task and as the section supporting the cracked off portion of the cylinder is shoved toward him alongthe track, he will rotate the platform of the section so as to bring the section of the cylinder into position with one end facing him. In this manner the capped off section of the cylinder is supported in such a position as to give the cracker ready access thereto and he can in a most convenient and expeditious manner draw the cracking iron along the inner surface of the cylinder at the lower side thereof in performing the cracking operation.

While the complete horse is illustrated and described as comprising a number of coupled sections, it will be understood that each section in itself constitutes a horse inasmuch as it is provided with its individual, saddles and is adapted to support a capped off portion of the length of the drawn cylin- .der.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A glass horse having a slack flexible saddle, and means whereby the slack of the saddle may be adjusted.

-2. In a glass horse, spaced supporting members,'a flexible saddle connected to one 'ofthe members, and means adjustablyconmeeting the saddle with the other member.

'3. Ina glass horse, spaced supporting members, a saddle connected with one of said members, the other member having an opening through which anend portion of the saddle is extended, and means carriedby the second mentioned member and adjustable withrelation to the opening in the. said member to bind the saddle." i

4. A glass horse comprising a supporting base, series of uprightsmounted at opposite sides of the base, saddles comprising flexible members suspended between corresponding uprights of the twoseries, the saddles being normally slack, and means whereby the slack of the saddles may be independently adj usted.

5. A glass horse comprising a plurality of sections mounted for travel, a saddle upon each section, and means separably coupling the sections.

6. A glass horse comprising a plurality of sections mounted fortravel, means separably coupling the sections, and a plurality of flexible saddles upon each section.

7 A glass horse comprising a plurality of truck bodies supported for travel and separ-" ably coupled together, a platform mounted forturning movementupon each truck body,

and a addle supported upon each platform.

tally disposed saddle mounted thereon. g 11. A'glass horse comprising a truck body supported for travel, a platform mounted for turning movement upon the'body about a vertical axis, and a horizontally disposed saddle upon the platform.

- .12. In glass apparatus, in combination with a drawing furnace and an overhead drawing apparatus mounted for travel in a direction toward and from the furnace, a truck mounted for travel in a like direction and in a path beneath the path oftravel of the drawing apparatus and having an elevated horse.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

EARL s. CHASE. [Ls] 

